Prevalence and associated risk factors of self-medication among patients attending El-Mahsama family practice center, Ismailia, Egypt

Abstract

Self-medication is defined as taking medications without the physician’s prescription. It is a worldwide public health problem, especially in countries with limited resources. Although self-medication can reduce waiting time and save money, it may carry some potential risks, e.g., antibiotic resistance or inappropriate management with subsequent complication. A limited number of self-medication studies have been conducted in Egypt. To determine the prevalence of self-medication practices and to identify the factors associated with self-medication A cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 patients. The sample was randomly selected from those who attended the El-Mahsama family practice center, Ismailia, Egypt, from November 2018 to February 2019. The center is affiliated to the Suez Canal University and provides preventive and curative services to a rural community. The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire including sociodemographic scale and self-medication knowledge and behavior. Data was analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistical methods. Frequency of self-medication among the study sample has reached 96%. More than half of the participants (53.6%) reported that the first reason behind using self-medication was cost saving. Meanwhile, the most prevalent conditions that make them use these medications by themselves were headaches (17%), aches and pain (other than headache) (39.2%), and fevers (11.8%). The most frequent self-administered drugs were analgesics (59.5%) and antibiotics (23.5%). Prevalence of self-medication is high among all socioeconomic levels of patients attending the El-Mahsama family practice center, which serves a rural community in Ismailia governorate, Egypt.